- client-centered approach
- cognitive behavioral work
- trauma-informed care
About Valerie
Valerie Smith is a Licensed Clinical Social Worker (LCSW) in Virginia with 30 years of experience. She works with adults facing stress, anxiety, depression, relationship difficulties, grief, trauma and a wide range of life challenges including guilt and shame.
Her style is conversational rather than interrogational. She listens first, then talks through ideas and practical steps. People often bring work, self-image, or relationship concerns and she helps them sort options and decide what to try next.
Valerie draws on a long career across public settings, general and psychiatric hospitals, and private practice. She also brings life experience from a variety of jobs and roles, and the perspective of being married later and parenting a college-age child. That background informs the examples and suggestions she offers in sessions.
Sessions focus on concrete strategies alongside deeper reflection. She uses ways of working that include client-centered discussions, cognitive-behavioral ideas to test thoughts and behaviors, and attention to how early beliefs affect current choices. Trauma-focused methods are used when past hurts are part of the problem.
Her aim is to offer practical suggestions, to identify childhood belief patterns that may be unhelpful, and to help people try new approaches. Valerie encourages people to try at least one session to see whether the way she works feels useful for them.
How Valerie uses online approaches and clinical methods
Client-Centered Therapy emphasizes listening and following the client’s concerns. It helps when someone needs to talk things out and have a therapist reflect back what matters most to them. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) looks at thoughts and behaviors and tests small experiments to reduce distress. It is often useful for anxiety, guilt-related thinking, and patterns that keep problems going.Finding the right approach is part of the work. Valerie treats that as a collaborative decision and will discuss which methods fit a person’s goals and preferences. She combines conversational client-centered work with practical CBT tools and trauma-focused attention when past events play a role.
Confirm current session options before booking to know how she is offering sessions. Online care can make it easier to fit therapy into a busy week, allow shorter check-ins when needed, or avoid travel time. Therapists and licensed professionals commonly use online work to keep continuity of care and adapt the format to what helps a person maintain momentum.
Areas of expertise
Primary focus
Also works with
Additional focus areas
Therapeutic approaches
Experience
30+ years
Listed in
Virginia
Languages
English
Frequently asked questions
What kinds of problems does she address?
She works with stress, anxiety, depression, relationship and grief issues, plus concerns such as addiction, trauma, guilt and shame.
How would she approach feelings of guilt or shame?
She uses conversational sessions to talk through the origins of those feelings, then practical steps and cognitive techniques to test unhelpful beliefs.
What is her background and experience?
She has 30 years of practice as a clinical social worker across hospitals, public settings and private practice and has worked with a wide range of life and work situations.
What credential does she hold and where does she practice?
She is an LCSW licensed in Virginia and practices with that credential in the state.
Does she work in languages other than English?
Sessions are offered in English.
Can people outside the United States work with her?
International clients are not currently accepted.
How are sessions arranged and paid for?
Cost varies with location and sessions use a subscription that can be canceled at any time.
How do I begin if I want to try a session?
Select the See online therapy options button, complete a short matching questionnaire, and schedule a first session.
Online talk therapy is not emergency care. If you are in danger or thinking about harming yourself, use the crisis numbers.